Israel approves first regulated stablecoin to anchor the shekel

Israel's Capital Markets Authority approved BitsofGold to issue BILS, the country's first stablecoin anchored to the shekel. The token is a regulated asset launched by BitsofGold after a two-year evaluation and pilot process with support from Solana Networks, Fireblocks and Ernst & Young. BitsofGold said that introducing the shekel into the chain aims to align it with currencies such as the euro, yen and Singapore dollar that have entered the blockchain financial system. At present, the size of the stablecoin market has exceeded US$300 billion. This issuance aims to cope with the dominant position of US$-anchored tokens in on-chain payments and safeguard digital sovereignty.